Friends of Fascination
by Kyaptain
Summary: Miyuki and Sawamura are both single fathers. One, a divorced man and the other the owner of a small cafe.
1. The meeting

overused trope but IDGAF. Just a warning, some characters used not in the anime yet.

* * *

A dad and his child were standing in front of a pair of double doors leading into a classroom.

Eijun looked down at his son tenderly and asked, "Koushuu, aren't you excited for your first day of preschool?"

The tiny figure stared silently at the cement below him with a frown marring his face. His grasp on the straps of his backpack tightened.

"I'm scared." He confessed in a timid voice. A tear drop threatening to fall down his face.

Eijun heaved the little boy up into his arms and wiped the tears away with the handkerchief in his pocket.

"Hey, hey, you'll be okay. My good friend Harucchi is a teacher here. I'm sure you'll feel better once you meet him. Let's go inside." He reached toward the door knob and proceeded to walk in.

"Hey Harucchi!" He gleefully greeted.

Haruichi got up from his desk and walked over with a smile. "Eijun, how are you?" He asked back. Haruichi of course didn't miss the blonde child in his arms.

Koushuu grew even smaller curling himself into Eijun's chest. He hid his face away from the pink-haired stranger.

"You must be Koushuu. I heard a lot about you from your dad."

"I'm Kominato-sensei, nice to meet you."

The aura Haruichi emits is a gentle loving kind and it actually does help Koushuu open up. He lifted his face up to look down at the slender hand that was sticking out toward him. Koushuu reached out and allowed the other to shake his miniature hand.

Seeing that his son seemed less anxious than before, he decided he should head back. "Okay buddy. I have to go open up the cafe before customers arrive. You'll be fine now, right?" Koushuu thought for a moment, but considered his dad and proceeded to nod his head. A gentle smile spread across Eijun's face. Before leaving, he did their daily custom, which is rubbing their foreheads together as a sign of endearment. Eijun finally put Koushuu down.

"Have fun, alright! I'll come to pick you up later." He waved as he headed out the door.

* * *

In a different location stood a man clad in a dark navy business suit with briefcase in hand. His right foot tapping impatiently as he looked down at his wrist-watch.

"Takuma, hurry up!" He yelled up the stairs.

"I don't know what toy to take!" A higher pitched voice yelled back.

Kazuya sighed. "Anything is fine. Now hurry up or I'll be late for work." Seconds ticked by until his son eventually decided on his choice.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Takuma slinged on his backpack and enthusiastically sprinted down the stairs. He hopped after the last step. Sticking out of his backpack was his prized action figure.

Once he caught up to his dad, the two quickly left the house to be on their way to the preschool.

A tiny glasses wearing boy burst through the doors and ran inside the classroom with a grin plastered onto his face.

"Oh Miyuki, you're finally here." called out the teacher.

"Yeah, this little guy couldn't figure out what toy to take with him today. I mean, aren't there other toys here?"

Haruichi chuckled. "Kids will be kids."

He looked at his watch again and his eyes bulged seeing the time. "Sorry for the hasty greeting, I have to get going."

Kazuya walked over to his son and went down on one knee in front of him. "You be good now, all right? And try not to give Kominato-sensei too much trouble." he pleaded on the last part.

"Got it!" He smiled back.

Thinking he was probably still going to be a handful for the pink haired teacher, Kazuya was satisfied he at least understood. "Good. I'll be back to pick you up later." As he was lifting himself back up, he rubbed the top of Takuma's head with his hand.

When Kazuya finally walked out the door, Haruichi turned toward Takuma. "Takuma-chan, if you want you can go play with-" Realizing Haruichi was talking to no one, he looked around to see the boy was already where Koushuu was at. Said boy was on the playmats coloring in a book.

"Hi, what's your name?" His booming voice startled the other child and he turned to see who could have such a loud voice. He realized the glasses wearing boy was waiting for a response.

In a quiet voice, he replied, "It's...Koushuu.."

"Cool, I'm Takuma!" Koushuu went silent again.

Takuma tilted his head to the side when an idea hit him.

"I know! If you want, we can play with my favorite action figure, the Destiny Task Force Five's Leader, Astral Spark!"

Koushuu's eyes lit up recognizing the hero. He nodded his head back in agreement.

Takuma's smile grew even larger if it was possible.

They ended up playing together even when more kids started to pour in.

* * *

"Thanks for coming!" Eijun waved to some customers as they left the cafe.

He looked up at the clock on the wall noticing it was almost time to pick his son up. He wiped a few more tables down before taking off his work uniform and changing into more casual clothes. He walked out the door after putting up a sign behind the glass stating he would be out.

Walking toward the preschool, he thought about how Koushuu's first day went. His thoughts were calm until Eijun started to worry about him.

_"Did he have fun?"_

_"Was he still scared without me around?"_

_"Did any kids bully him?"_

Thoughts like these kept circling around his head. He began to quicken his pace to try to get to Koushuu as soon as possible.

Eijun turned the corner quickly but not cautiously enough for he ended up suddenly bumping into someone's back.

He heard the other person curse. "Are you fuckin kidding me?"

Eijun immediately let out a brisk apology. "Sorry, I was just in a rush."

The other person turned around staring down angrily at the large brown stain covering the entire front of his white long-sleeved button up shirt.

Eijun's jaw dropped. Eyes widened aware of what his carelessness had caused. Now he really felt like apologizing. "Oh my god, I am so, so, so sorry."

Eijun thought he heard the other man about to speak but his mind was in too much of panic mode to catch anything being said.

He felt he should explain himself.

In a frenzied voice he went on. "I was just worried about being late in picking my son up from preschool and-"

"Hold on." The man interrupted. Eijun shut his mouth allowing the other to continue. "Do you mean Sunny Heart Preschool?"

He blinked a few times. Eijun wasn't sure how else to respond. He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, how did you know?"

"I was on my way to pick up my son from there too."

Eijun grinned at the coincidence. "For real? Hey, why don't we walk there together?" Almost forgetting he was the one to make the man spill his drink, Eijun rescinded the idea. "Then again...I can understand if you don't want to since I was the one who made you..drop..your coffee…" Eijun started to trail off.

"No no, it's all right. Seriously. I was going to go home after picking my son up anyways." Kazuya tried to reassure with a smile.

Eijun sighed a breath of relief placing a hand on his chest.

Right before they headed off, Eijun stuck his hand out as a friendly gesture. "I'm Sawamura Eijun by the way."

The other man shook his hand back and replied. "Miyuki Kazuya. A pleasure."

* * *

Finally off the clock, Kazuya began filing his documents away.

"Going out already?" A voice called out from his green-haired friend, Kuramochi.

"Yeah, gotta pick my son up from preschool now."

"Alright, see you tomorrow."

Kazuya did a quick wave as he began to walk out of the office.

Before actually leaving the building, he decided to grab a cup of coffee from the break room. Ten minutes away from reaching his destination, he noticed the lid of his coffee cup popped off.

He set down his briefcase temporarily to fix the loose lid on the paper cup.

In the midst of adjusting it, a force pushed him forward causing the drink to fall all over his chest.

It took him a moment to realize there was a massive stain covering the entirety of the front of his work shirt. His temper started to bubble just like how the coffee was earlier when he first poured it. He heard the person behind him apologizing.

Luckily, the drink had cooled down since the time he left the office but he was still pissed. _How can they be so careless?_ He turned himself around about to give the idiot a piece of his mind until his words died out. In his vision, he saw the most gorgeous eye-catching beauty standing in front of him.

His mind was internally silenced taking in the person's features. His golden eyes shone brighter than a sunflower's petals, dark brown hair looked soft to the touch, slender figure with sturdy arms hidden underneath his rolled up sleeves, and those lush lips. He wondered how all of that combined would look underneath him when-

His trail of thoughts halted when his ears picked up the words 'Son' and 'Preschool'. He then realized the man in front of him was explaining why he was in such a rush.

Kazuya interrupted the other's apology asking if it was the same preschool his son attended.

He was surprised it was. After getting the situation out of the way, they agreed to walk together toward the preschool. Kazuya was then glad he didn't let his temper scare the other away.

"I'm Sawamura Eijun by the way." _That smile._

He looked down at his hand and returned the greeting.

He smirked. "Miyuki Kazuya. A pleasure." _A pleasure indeed._

* * *

The two adults arrived to the preschool and walked through the door.

Haruichi was about to welcome Eijun but then was caught off guard to see Miyuki walking beside him.

"Hey Harucchi!" he yelled across the room.

"Harucchi?" Kazuya didn't mean for that to slip out but since he was heard, Eijun answered him.

"Yeah, me and Harucchi have known each other since high school." He stated while slinging an arm around his pink-haired friend." Haruichi never ceasing to blush at his friend's overly affectionate nature.

Takuma was the first to call out to his parent and wave. He excitedly pulled Koushuu along with him to show him off.

"Dad! Dad! This is my new friend I made today! His name is Koushuu and he also likes Destiny Task Force Five and we're both four years old and we both really like pudding and-"

"Alright, alright slow down there before you run out of breath (Again)." He said with his hands going in a wavy up and down motion.

Eijun leaned toward his son with both hands on his knees and asked, "Is that true Koushuu? Did you really make a friend?" Koushuu nodded shyly but Eijun didn't miss the tiny smile on his face.

"Okay, now go get your stuff ready." Kazuya ordered.

"Roger!" Takuma yelled back with a salute. He immediately went to retrieve his belongings and returned to his father.

"Thanks for today. We'll see you tomorrow Kominato-sensei."

"Bye Harucchi!"

"Take care, all of you." He shouted back while untying the back of his blue apron.

Each adult walked out hand in hand with their sons.

They walked together to a certain distance until they reached an empty crossroad.

Eijun pointed with the opposite hand holding Koushuu's. "We live this way. It's actually that little cafe down the street. You guys should visit sometime."

"Sounds good. We'll see you guys tomorrow?" Kazuya asked. He knew he would, but still felt like asking would be good.

"Of course." Eijun replied smiling back.

Eijun and Koushuu walked a bit further until Eijun shouted, "Nice meeting you guys again!" as he waved.

Kazuya waved back and headed off to the opposite direction.

There was a comfortable silence between father and son. But the silence was interrupted by none other than Takuma. "I really like Koushuu. And I also like his dad! He seems really nice." He grinned toward his father.

Kazuya looked down at his son and concurred with the statement. An amused chuckle slipped out. "I do too." _Although my like is pretty different._

* * *

Hoped you guys enjoyed it. I had a bit more written but I decided stopping here would be good.  
I really liked the idea of small Koushuu from my other fic. So I decided to write a story around that  
I'm trash for not updating Heaven's Lineup ;; forgive me orz  
I finished my finals earlier so hopefully I can write more!  
Also, it's rated T for now and will possibly be E when I put in some smut laterr


	2. Opportunity of invite

Thanks for all the comments on both FFN and AO3! Couldn't believe how many people wanted the next update ;; So here it is~

* * *

The alarm of his phone went off with a blaring ringtone. The dawn of a new day made itself known to Kazuya with the rays of the sun seeping through the blinds of his window. He scrunched up his eyes as he sat up in bed. His left hand lazily tapped around the nightstand searching for his glasses. He slipped them on along with a pair of slippers to walk downstairs to the kitchen. Once there, he took out all the materials and ingredients he needed to set out and began cooking. Almost finished making their morning meal, he called for his son to come down.

Takuma came down the stairs in his Astral Spark patterned pajamas.

It was only in the morning when Takuma just woke up where he was at his calmest. Also going to sleep at night after using bountiful amounts of energy during the day.

"Morning sleepyhead." He greeted his son.

With his tiny fists, he tried to rub the fatigue out of his eyes. "Morning…" he yawned.

"Where are your glasses?" Kazuya asked while flipping some pancakes. Takuma just lifted up his lenses for his dad to see and he nodded back in confirmation.

They sat at the table and ate their breakfast in peace. As they finished up, Kazuya started to go ahead and collect their dishes into a pile.

"Go get ready now." Kazuya commanded.

Takuma descended off his seat and trekked back upstairs.

He took the dishes to the sink and proceeded to scrub them down. While cleaning the plates, his mind wandered back to his newly acquainted golden eyed friend. He remembered when he first shook his hand, he noticed the non-existent wedding band on his left ring finger.

A giddy grin slipped onto his face. _Does this mean there's a chance?_

He suddenly felt grateful his son became friends with the other's kid. More opportunities could present themselves to spending time getting to know one another.

Finishing up, he went to prepare himself for the day as well.

This time Takuma didn't take as long to get ready, so they ended up at the preschool around the same time as the other pair.

"Hey Miyuki! Takuma!" Eijun waved cheerfully from a distance.

Kazuya just signaled back a casual 'hello'.

Takuma escaped his dad's grasp and dashed over to Koushuu in a heartbeat.

It didn't take long for Kazuya to walk up to the rest of the group. "Beautiful morning, huh?" Eijun mentioned observing the weather.

_You're the one who's beautiful._ Kazuya corrected inwardly.

Standing in front of Eijun, he was able to examine his current attire. A black v-neck sweater with a light blue undershirt all tucked into the hem of a pair of dark grey slacks. Everything fit so slim on his body. The darker tones really emphasized the brighter features of his face. Kazuya was more than 100% certain that Eijun had no idea how effortlessly he was causing turmoil in his mind.

"Shall we go in?" The simple question seemed to break whatever spell he was under in the current moment. "Hm? Right, of course."

Kazuya walked over to his son and put a hand on top of his head. "Alright, stop smothering your poor friend and let's get inside."

Once they dropped off their children into the care of the teacher, they walked side by side through the parking lot.

Eijun gave Kazuya a quick once over. Catching the inspection, he asked, "Is something the matter?" Eijun looked at Kazuya with a bewildered expression. "What? Oh! I was just noticing you look much better without that huge coffee stain."

"Yeah, guess who caused that."

"S-shut up. It was an accident." His cheeks heated up as he looked away.

"I'm joking. Didn't I already say it was all right?"

"Well, I still feel bad." he confessed while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Just don't sweat over it anymore." The assured statement seem to relax Eijun and they continued to walk together until they had to split ways onto their separate paths.

* * *

"You're creeping me out."

They were in their respected cubicle examining over pages of retail sales.

Kazuya angled his head over to face Kuramochi while resting the side of his head on his hand. "Whatever do you mean." He nonchalantly asked. An aura of elation kept radiating off of him.

He tried to convey his conjecture of the man. "I don't know that-..that look on your face, it's too..grossly obvious." He didn't know any other way to put it. Kuramochi's feedback always amused him. He was certain his expressions were not actually that evident to others. He knew for a fact he was able to conceal most of his emotions very well, if he did say so himself. Kuramochi was just one of those people with sharp senses. His perception of things allowed him to be able to pick up on subtle notions.

"Whoever it is, I feel bad for them that they caught your eye." He said while turning back to look at his screen.

Kuramochi had been Kazuya's friend long enough to know the kind of twisted personality he possessed.

"Aw, don't rain on my path to love."

"More like the path to conquer their poor soul." he retorted.

"Someone's just jealous."

"HAH. That's a funny joke. Like I'd ever be jealous of some bastard like you." In his comeback, Kazuya responded. "A bastard I may be, but I always get what I want. It'll just take some time and a bit of _persuasion_." Kuramochi scrutinized the other with a glaring eye. He believed the words flowing out with that confidence he regularly carried along him to back it up.

Kazuya's mouth curved into a devilish smirk going back into his daydream over the target of his desires.

Kuramochi shuddered. He wanted to gag. "Whatever. Let's just get back to work."

* * *

Finally, 4pm hit. Kazuya stretched in his chair before getting up to pack away his things to leave. He got to the preschool just in time to see Eijun come into view. Eijun spotted him as well and flashed his pearly whites toward his direction. Even after 8 hours stuck in a cubicle at the office, he felt rejuvenated seeing that smile again.

They walked into the classroom. Not even a few feet in, a bundle of hyperactive energy ran toward Kazuya's legs and promptly proceeded to wrap their arms around his knees.

"Can we go to the park? Pleaaaase? I wanna show Koushuu my sandcastle." He begged his father.

"Right now?" Takuma nodded his head fervently. "I don't know." He said sternly. "I'm pretty sure Sawamura has to get back." Takuma's face started to slowly drop until his whole being resembled a kicked puppy.

Eijun interjected. "C'mon Miyuki, why not? Sounds like it'll be fun. I have some free time anyways."

Kazuya wanted to confirm he didn't say that just because he felt bad for his son. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Koushuu looks like he really wants to go too." he mentioned while looking down at the boy who was also clinging to the side of his leg.

Seeing how Eijun was sincere about his schedule, he sighed in defeat and smiled. "All right. We can go." Takuma cheered jubilantly hearing the news.

Once they arrived at the park, they found an unoccupied bench to sit in and set down their stuff.

"Can we go play yet?" Takuma asked excitedly while his restless legs kept going up and down as if he were stepping on hot lava.

"Fine, just play where we can see you."

"Okay! C'mon Koushuu!" He whisked the other boy to the sandbox.

Before settling onto the bench, Kazuya took out his wallet. "I'm heading off to the vending machine. Want anything?"

"Sure, a green tea would be nice." Eijun said accepting the offer.

Kazuya came back with an iced coffee for himself and tossed Eijun the cool beverage he requested.

He took a seat next to him while pushing the cap of his can open.

Curiosity suddenly seized control for the bespectacled man. "So you and Kominato have known each other for a while, huh? How'd you guys meet?"

"Hm? Oh, we met through joining the baseball club in our high school. Harucchi was second baseman and also a clean up batter. He was pretty shy, still is, but man were his plays daring. It was really awesome to see!"

"Really? What about you?"

Pleasant nostalgia seem to rest on his face. "Pitcher. No other position ever crossed my mind for me. There isn't any feeling in the world like being on the mound." He proudly stated with an illustrious grin.

"Funny. I did high school baseball too. I was actually catcher."

"Seriously? I wonder what it would have been like to form a battery with you." He said looking up pondering the scenario.

"Who knows, you probably didn't even have the skills to be on par with me." Kazuya teased with a shit-eating grin.

He was punched lightly on the arm. "Heyy, arrogant glass-eyed jerk."

They both looked toward their kids playing in the sand. It was Eijun's turn to suddenly become interested in something he perceived about the other man.

"Hey, um, Miyuki." Kazuya's attention turned his way.

"I noticed you're the only one who comes to the preschool for Takuma. So how come your wife doesn't pick him up?" It was a harmless question.

"Divorced." He replied straight laced.

"Oh, sorry to hear that.."

"Nah, it's okay. We ended it on mutual terms. We married young since she was expecting. A few years later we realized it'd be better to split than try to force the relationship to work. Also wanted to spare my kid from us fighting." he said before taking a sip of his beverage.

"Well, I'm glad to see you get along with your son."

"He can be a handful at times with the amount of energy he has in that tiny body of his." Eijun chuckled at the comment.

He looked down at his drink and swirled the contents inside. Eijun had no clue as to what came over him leaving this comfortable feeling, maybe it was the nice climate or the relaxed atmosphere in the the air, but he felt he could tell the other a bit of what he'd been through. "I-..I kind of got out of a bad relationship sometime last year. I wasn't in a very good place mentally either. What really topped it all was my friend and his wife died in a fire." Kazuya was taken aback by the heavy information being dropped, but he continued to listen to the other speak knowing there was probably more to be said.

"But thank heavens their kid was brought out safely by the firefighters. He didn't have any other family to go to and no way was he being sent to an orphanage on my watch. So, now I am the proud guardian of my friend's kid."

Kazuya slightly lifted an eyebrow toward his direction.

Aware what the other was silently asking to confirm, he said "Yeah, Koushuu isn't biologically my kid. I mean, how could he? We look nothing alike!" He laughed trying to lighten the tension but to Kazuya, it felt forced. .

There was a silence between the two. It wasn't awkward per se, but Kazuya didn't trust himself to speak.

He took a quick glance at the other's face. Eijun seemed to be mulling over something with a somber look in his eyes.

Kazuya's hand slightly twitched feeling the urge to grab a hold of the other's hand lying on the bench between them. But he stopped himself.

All of a sudden, Eijun spoke again.

"I was really worried for the kid when I first got him. He was a lot quieter and kept to himself, y'know?"

"He's been doing a lot better these past few months though. Especially these last few days. I haven't seen him that happy in a long time. I really gotta thank your son for being his friend!"

Kazuya flashed an amused grin. "I'm surprised your son is actually willing to go along with mine."

Eijun blurt out a hearty laugh.

In that moment, Kazuya thought he looked a lot more dazzling truly smiling than the solemn expression he had on just a minute ago.

Eijun exhaled as he languidly lifted himself off the bench.

"Well, now I have to go figure out what to buy for dinner."

"I own a cafe, but my specialty is mainly coffee drinks and pastries."

"I can't really make dinner or lunch dishes all that well besides sandwiches. So I usually buy store bought meals."

"Store bought dinner? Are you serious?" He asked incredulously.

Eijun recoiled a bit at the backlash. He abashedly replied. "Well, yeah..can't feed him pastries as his diet."

Kazuya thought up of a suggestion. "Why don't you guys come over for dinner?" Eijun had a look of confusion on his face. "Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty great at cooking."

"Really?" Eijun inquired skeptically.

Kazuya shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, it's my hobby."

"Wow, that'd be really great! I'll go ask Koushuu first."

Kazuya just sat back and watched as Eijun crouched down in front of Koushuu informing him of the plans and Takuma seemed to be excited hearing the news as well.

* * *

The group all slipped off their shoes by the entrance before letting themselves into the rest of the house. Walking in, Eijun noticed how neat and tidy everything was except for the few toys lying around.

"Koushuu, why don't you go play with Takuma while the food gets prepared." Eijun told his son.

"C'mon! I'll show you the rest of my toys!" Takuma happily dragged Koushuu to his room. The other two walked into the kitchen.

Kazuya don on an apron and tied a white bandana around his head. He then started washing his hands in the sink.

He set the temperature on the stove top to boil in order to steam some veggies. In a pan, he poured oil for the chicken he was about to fry."

Seeing how the food was almost done after 30 minutes, Eijun volunteered to aid in whatever he could do. "Ah, I'll help you set out the dishes."

"Sure, cups and plates are up there." He informed.

Going over to the direction he pointed at, Eijun reached for the dishes. As he stretched up his arms, the bottom of his shirt started to rise showing off a bit of his midriff. Kazuya took a quick glance and quietly gulped. Realizing just a little skin could set him off, he lowered his face into his hand.

He mentally berated himself. _Calm yourself, jeez. You don't even know if he bats for the other team. Yet._ He added the last part in conviction.

Satisfied with the four sets laid out on the table, Eijun suggested, "I'll go call the kids down."

From the bottom of the staircase, he yelled, "Takuma! Koushuu!"

Hearing their names, the two dashed toward the kitchen. Eijun took a moist cloth to wipe down their hands.

Everyone was seated with their plates filled. The scent of the food wafted through the air reaching Eijun's nose. He could barely curb his hunger. As soon as everyone was settled, he shouted an elated. "Itadakimasu!" Excited, he started to dig in.

His eyes widened when he took the first bite. There was a twinkle in his eyes. "Miyuki, this is really good!" Eijun complimented wholeheartedly. He was in sheer bliss eating one bite to another. Kazuya had never felt so thankful to his cooking skills knowing they could cause such a reaction from the man.

Eijun brought some food over to Koushuu's mouth with his chopsticks.

"What do you think Koushuu? Do you like Miyuki's cooking?" He gulped it down and nodded happily at his father. There was a mess around Takuma's mouth even after Kazuya constantly kept having to wipe it away.

The room was filled with satisfied stomachs. "That was one of the best meals I've had in a long time." Eijun commented.

"Glad you liked it. But if you really want, I could teach you how to make simple and healthy meals whenever you have the time."

"Wow, you'd do that? I'm not really sure how I can return the favor though."

"Just let us sample some of those pastries of yours." Kazuya grinned.

Agreeing with the idea, Eijun smiled. "All right. I'll make sure to prepare a special seat for you guys."

Kazuya walked them to the door.

"Thanks again for inviting us Miyuki."

"Anytime." he answered.

Eijun's eyes broadened as he remembered something. He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. "We should exchange numbers! Making plans would be a lot easier."

Kazuya brought out his phone from the back of his pocket. As they were exchanging numbers, he couldn't help but feel accomplished. His plan to get the brunette's number was going to be done _one_ way or another. He just hadn't expected it to happen this soon and for Eijun to be the one offering first.

Walking down the sidewalk, Koushuu was holding his father's hand. He looked up with his blue eyes and noticed the goofy expression on his face.

"Daddy. You're smiling really huge right now."

"Eh?! I am? Ehehe, guess I'm just feeling really happy." Cheeks so rosy, Koushuu almost thought his father was sick until Eijun blurted out, "Yosh! Let's get back home to figure out what to make for them when they come over. Okay?"

Koushuu didn't say anything back, but even he himself felt excitement for the nearby future.

* * *

Wahh hoped you guys enjoyed this!

I get all happy with any chapter over 2k words because that much is a stretch for me ;o; Any comments are appreciated~


	3. Eats and Treats

Sorry for the super late update, but hey! I got it done by Valentine's day~ Hope you guys like it.

* * *

Sprawled across his bed, Eijun was sound asleep. His whole body was relaxed and his breathing even as he snoozed away. But he was jolted awake when a bloodcurdling scream reached his ears. He stumbled out of his bed and sprinted to the room right next door.

He flicked the light on before rushing over to Koushuu's bedside. He sat down on the bed and wrapped his arms around the smaller one into an embrace. In a gentle voice he whispered, "Shh..it's okay..Don't worry. I'm here." To comfort him, he rubbed soothing circles on his back. Both of Koushuu's hands grip tightly on his shirt and trembled as he choked out loud sobs. All Eijun could do was keep rubbing his back and add some pats in between.

After enough time had passed and Eijun could tell Koushuu had calmed down, he asked, "Was it the dream again?" With his small face still buried in his shirt, he nods slowly confirming Eijun's presumption.

"Did you want to sleep in my room for tonight?" Koushuu hesitated to answer.

Eijun tried to reassure him. "It's okay to tell me." Koushuu lifts his head away from Eijun's shirt and rubs some tears away with his balled up fists. He sniffles before nodding his head. Eijun warmly smiled. He scooped him up into his arms and carried him to his room. He set him down gently on to one side and tucked him in under the thick blanket. Eijun moved over to lie down on the other side and tuck himself in as well. After about 15 minutes, Eijun could tell Koushuu was sound asleep by the calm even rhythm of his breathing.

Eijun looks toward the clock on his nightstand and it is illuminating the current time, 3:12am. He tries to prompt himself to get some rest, but his thoughts keep him awake. He thinks about Koushuu's dream, or more correctly, his nightmare. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it always broke Eijun's heart seeing a child have to go through that. The dream consisted of a house being engulfed by intense flames. Everything around him had burst into fire where it just resembles a blazing inferno. In the distance, his parents are standing next to each other smiling fondly at him as they fade into the flames.

Eijun tried to find any helpful coping methods with Koushuu. He always tries his best to soothe the child's stress. Even with all the effort, Eijun tends to doubt his parenting skills. He wonders how two people would handle this type of situation. He doubts himself, but there is one thing he would never question or regret, which is adopting Koushuu.

Eijun eventually sleeps. He wakes up in the morning, but he sees he is running late starting the new day. He rushes out of bed and also gently shakes his son to get him ready as well.

* * *

As Kazuya and Takuma were standing close to the entrance of the preschool, they both looked toward the same direction hoping to catch sight of Eijun and Koushuu. Kazuya was beginning to wonder if it was the start of some new morning routine with them.

They still had not entered since they wanted to let the other two to catch up.

A minute went by.

Then two.

There was still no sign of them.

"Where's Koushuu and his dad?" Takuma asked looking up toward his father for answers. Of course he didn't have one for him. He was also baffled wondering where the other pair was. Seeing as they still had not shown up, Kazuya presented his own explanation. "They're probably just running a little late." With the weather getting chillier, he didn't want them to have to stand out in the cold longer than they should and risk themselves getting sick. "C'mon, let's get inside." With a frown on his face, Takuma was till staring towards the direction hoping to catch sight of them. Kazuya tugged on his son's tiny hand a couple of times to grab his attention. The little boy's focus was still preoccupied for a few seconds longer until he finally turned his head toward the entrance of the preschool.

Walking through the doors, Takuma was the first to notice the unfamiliar presence in the classroom. "Dad look, there's a funny man sleeping over there." Takuma pointed toward the person sitting behind the teacher's desk. Said person was indeed snoozing away. He had his arms crossed and his head tilted resting on his shoulder. It seemed as if he had dozed off while waiting for someone. Kazuya could see he was also wearing a blue apron, the same kind Kominato would wear. He assumed the raven haired male worked at the preschool center as well, but he had never seen him before until today. So to feel safer, he wanted to at least know the current location of where the more familiar teacher was. Kazuya walked over to the desk to grab the other's attention. He snapped his fingers in front of the man's face multiple times. Each snap was sharp and loud. It seemed to have worked because the imaginary snot bubble popped and blue eyes fluttered open. The raven haired man woke up disoriented. Wasting no time, he asked, "Where's Kominato-sensei at?" He squinted at Kazuya trying to register the question directed toward him. He yawned before mumbling something incoherently, "..he's out..books..frm..car..." Kazuya's eyes furrowed together being given such broken words. "What? Can you please speak clearer?" He demanded as _politely_ as he could. Instead of the person replying back, he started to doze off again ignoring the person in front of him. Kazuya looked annoyed. One eye started to twitch. He didn't have time to have this person ignore him like he didn't exist. He wanted to know where the teacher was at. But soon, the pink haired teacher pushed past through the door with a box full of illustration books for children. Walking in, he analyzed the scene before him.

The look of annoyance on Miyuki's face turned into relief when they made eye contact (well as much eye contact one could get through with eyes hidden behind bangs). Haruichi looked over to see what had caused his annoyance in the first place. His hidden eyes landed onto the raven haired male. "Ah! Furuya, you're not supposed to be asleep on the job." Haruichi reprimanded the raven haired man. He set down the box of books and stepped toward him to make the man stand up. Kazuya noticed he looked a lot taller than when he was seated in the chair.

With a hand on the taller man's shoulder, Haruichi introduced him to the two, "This is Furuya Satoru. I've known him from a different preschool center. Because of some circumstances, he decided to transfer here. He may not seem like it, but he's actually really good working with children!" His face turned crimson trying to put Furuya into a positive light to convince Miyuki. "He just enjoys sleeping a little too much.." Haruichi felt that might have discredited his previous sentiment but what was the point in trying to hide the already obvious.

There was still a hint of skepticism in the back of Kazuya's mind. But he knew Kominato-sensei was a trustworthy person though, so this allowed him to be able to push the doubt out of his mind. "Alright, if you say so."

He looked down at his watch before stating, "I might have spent a little too long here. I've got to get going now."

He waved goodbye to Takuma and the others right before rushing out the door.

Haruichi's phone rang out with a jingle letting him know he received a message. It was from Eijun.

[We'll be running a bit late this morning.]

Haruchi sent back something letting Eijun know he got his message.

After he slipped the phone back into his pocket, he looked over to see Takuma playing with some other children that had been dropped off. He seemed to be having fun but then Haruichi could detect there was a hint of loneliness from the child. He guessed it was most likely because Koushuu wasn't here yet. He was surprised and glad they took a liking to each other so quickly but he never thought Takuma would be affected quite this much because of his friend's absence. He just hoped Eijun and Koushuu would arrive soon.

* * *

Kazuya had arrived at the office and proceeded to get settled into his space. He sat down when suddenly; he felt a vibration in his back pocket. It only went off once indicating it was a text message from his phone. He takes out the device and looks down at the screen.

1 New Message

From Sawamura

[about u guys coming over. when are you free?]

_Casual texting, huh?_

Kazuya was about to type a reply back until another message immediately popped up.

From Sawamura

[is this weekend okay?]

Kazuya smirked as he sent his reply.

From Miyuki

[Sure, those are when my days off land on anyways.]

Eijun lifted a single eyebrow looking down at the new message. _Formal texts? It seems like it'd be his nature._

From Sawamura

[great sounds like a plan!]

From Miyuki

[I will be bringing some ingredients but make sure these items are present.]

In the next text, it was a list of the food items. Looking through the list, Eijun tried to create a mental note to remind himself to drop by the store to retrieve the ingredients assigned to him before the weekend arrived.

He then sent his reply back.

From Sawamura

[okay! we'll see you then]

Seeing as that last text was an indication of the end of their conversation, Kazuya slipped his phone back into his pocket. He realized a floating question had escaped him. He debated whether he should have asked why they were late this morning. Since he had missed the chance, he went on to just allow the thought to settle in the back of his mind. Sawamura may or may not bring it up. But it probably wasn't important if it had not come up. Resting his chin on the palm of his hand, he couldn't help but look forward to the weekend. His eyes widened slightly. Was he actually looking forward to it this much? Besides work and parenting, nothing or no one else had really caught his attention in a while. He usually found himself buried in his work analyzing data. On rare instances, he would almost miss the time in leaving to go pick up his son.

When he actually took some time to think about it, he realized how silly it was how quickly he developed a crush on his new acquaintance. For now, he would happily admire his looks and actually get to know the father of his son's friend.

He found out he didn't enjoy having to mingle with other parents. The conversations usually felt menial and he ended up wanting to bang his head on a wall repeatedly in the middle of each one. Meaningless talks just always got on his nerves. With Sawamura though, it was different. Kazuya felt like he didn't need to put up barriers to keep conversations at a distance. He genuinely enjoyed talking with this person. Wrapping his thoughts up, he looked toward a computer screen and continued his work.

* * *

With the arrival of the weekend, Kazuya and Takuma were making their way towards the café. He took out a piece of paper with the address written down. He searches the area and spots the café from a distance. Above the building was the name, "Eats and Treats Café."

Kazuya and Takuma cross the street and make it to the front of the shop.

A bell jingles as they pass through the door. They look around noticing there's quite an abundance of customers for such a tiny place. Then they heard Eijun shout. "You guys made it! Here, have a seat." He directed them over to a table. They settle into their seats as Eijun brings over a plate of sweets. "I have an assortment you guys can try out." Presented on the plate were intricately designed cupcakes. He set down two ceramic plates; one for each of them with a cupcake lying on top. The frosting lay smoothly untouched, decorated with edible pearls sprinkled on top. In Kazuya's mind, it looked too perfect to eat. He almost wanted to take a picture. Of course he wouldn't admit the thought occurred. "Go ahead, dig in." Eijun smiled widely prompting the two. Kazuya and Takuma each picked up their cupcake and took a bite. Both their eyes widened with delight. There was a soft sponginess to the texture and the icing's sweetness wasn't overpowering like most sweets were to Kazuya.

Takuma set down his cupcake and placed his hands on his cheeks as he swayed his head side to side. "It's so yummy! It's so yummy!" He sang out joyfully.

Eijun walked behind the counter and came back with two drinks.

"Here's some milk for you Takuma and…oh- Sorry Miyuki, I never asked what kind of coffee you drink."

"I'm usually not too picky about my coffee. What did you bring?"

"It's a French Roast." With two fingers, Kazuya tapped the table in front of him. "That's perfect, thank you." Eijun smiled before setting down the cup on the spot he tapped. Noticing a customer in front of the cash register, Eijun excused himself. "I'll be right back." He turned around to walk behind the counter. While drinking his coffee, Kazuya let his eyes wander to Eijun's backside but his gaze moved further down to his butt. He smirked behind his coffee cup.

Eijun soon came back to their table. He took one glance at Miyuki's face and he burst into sheer laughter. Kazuya raised an eyebrow baffled for a second for the sudden outburst until he realized why. Eijun was having difficulty forming words. He pointed at Kazuya and in broken chortles he spoke, "You're glasses,..are…fogged..UP."

The other rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." He said as he started to take off his glasses to wipe away the fog on his shirt. Eijun was able to calm himself down so now he was just chuckling as he wiped a tear away. He abruptly stopped mid-wipe though. His lips shut tightly and eyes widened looking at the now glasses-less Miyuki. He never noticed such facial features on the man. What caught him the most off guard was the rich amber eyes usually hidden behind the dark plastic frames. The shape of his eyes seemed to have a distinct sharpness to the ends as well.

Kazuya slipped his glasses back on. "So you manage the café all by yourself?" Eijun was snapped out of the strange trance he was in. "Hm? Oh, yeah. It's difficult but the customers who frequent the place and enjoy everything I make really make it worth it."

"Why not hire an extra hand?"

"Ah, it's not as easy as you think. I want to be able to give them a good salary too. Maybe in the future. I'm fine by myself for now!"

Takuma was looking around for a blonde mop of hair, but he didn't spot anything. Curiously, he asked, "Where's Koushuu?"

Eijun half-smiled in his direction. "Sorry Takuma, he's just napping upstairs. Maybe you guys can see each other another time?" Takuma looked dejected.

Thinking now would be a good time to ask, Kazuya questioned, "Do you want the first lesson tomorrow?"

Eijun had a befuddled look on his face until he asked, "Is tomorrow also your day off?"

"Yup."

"I think that'd be great then!" He grinned excitedly. "I close the cafe earlier on Sundays anyways."

Kazuya stood up out of his chair. "Okay. We'll be going home then. Tomorrow we'll be seeing you guys again anyways."

As they were walking out, Eijun shouts, "I look forward to tomorrow!"

* * *

The next day, Kazuya and Takuma, ingredients in hand, get there when the café just closes. The bell jingles with their arrival. Kazuya spots Eijun wiping down the tables. "Need any help?" He smiles as he rolls up his sleeves. Eijun returned it with a smirk. "Sure." He tosses him an extra wash cloth.

Takuma pinpoints where Koushuu is at. He's in a booth coloring. He grins as he rushes over to join him.

After tidying up the place, they walk to a small hallway next to the kitchen of the café and stand in front of a door.

Eijun unlocks the door to the stairs leading up to the second story. They walk in and Eijun closes the door behind them. They all leave their shoes by the entrance and soon the children bolt up the flight of stairs.

To keep them preoccupied, Eijun plays a movie for the children in the living room.

The other two walk into the kitchen. Kazuya is the one to speak first. "All right, we'll be starting off with a simple dish. Beef stew." Eijun's face goes blank wondering if he heard wrong. He stared at the man and blinked a few times in disbelief. He wanted to confirm with the other, "Isn't that a bit complicated for a first lesson?" Kazuya snickered at the whole reaction. "Of course not, I'll be showing you an easier way to go about it. You brought the ingredients I told you to bring, right?"

"I did." He walks over to the fridge, opens it and picks them out from one of the drawers.

Do you have a cutting board? "Right here!" He waved it in the air before handing it to him. They prep themselves by slipping on the aprons. Once Eijun had tied the back of his apron, in a determined stance he shouted, "Okay, I'm ready!" Kazuya couldn't help but think how cute his enthusiasm was. He was prepared to see him go into some sort of Sentai ranger pose.

"Do you handle knives?" Eijun thinks about it. "Mm, not very often. When it comes to baking, I use a specific knife so it doesn't shred tender cakes."

"I'll cut these for now then and you can peel those." He hands him the bag filled with some potatoes he brought over. Eijun sits in a chair begins to peel them. Kazuya sets down the cutting board on the other side of the table. He decides to stand instead and begins to cut the first set of vegetables. Neither says anything while busying themselves with their tasks. Minutes go by until Eijun takes the opportunity to become more familiar with the man by asking him a simple general question.

"So, how did you learn to cook so well?" Kazuya halted his actions in the midst of cutting the vegetables. The knife in his hand stood still in the air. Eijun became aware of the sudden absence of the sound of the blade tapping against the board. He glanced up to see the other's expression. There was a mild bitter look that happened to appear on his face. Eijun seemed perturbed about the silence emanating from the other. Was it something wrong he said? He believed the question was harmless, then again, he didn't know much about the man. Eijun unknowingly held his breath and went rigid. The tension in the air was faint but still present. It was soon broken though when Kazuya started to answer in regard to his question. "My old man was usually too busy with his work when I was younger, so I guess I just ended up learning how to cook myself." The sound of the blade hitting the cutting board resumed again.

"And what about your mom?"

Is what Eijun wanted to ask, but he somehow managed to prevent himself from pressing on. Sometimes he would just let his mouth run off. When he was in high school, he would frequently be called a loud mouth idiot and usually end up blurting whatever was on his mind, but in this instance, he felt asking such a question would be like setting off a landmine. Once in a while, he did use his perceptiveness according to the situation.

If this was the sort of reaction he received from asking about one parent, he felt prying about the other would present itself with a negatively heavier response.

"If you're wondering what happened to my mother, she died when I was much younger."

Eiijun flinched at the statement. He was inwardly questioning. _How did he know? Can he read my mind?_

As if also knowing exactly what Eijun was thinking, Kazuya remarked "Bakamura, you're just really obvious right now."

Feeling as though he should apologize for being caught, he confessed "Sorry..I guess I just didn't want to-HEY!" His head whipped toward the bespectacled man. He angrily lifted himself up from out of his chair. Kazuya grinned anticipating what was bound to come next. "Did you just call me Bakamura!?" Eijun was fuming with cheeks tinted red. Teasing the man was just too hilarious to him that he burst out into laughter. Kazuya was cradling his gut while Eijun's clenched hands were at his sides. He was mentally shaking a fist at the snickering tanuki-bastard. That's right, Miyuki was now a tanuki-bastard to him.

Kazuya began trying to catch his breath after laughing so hard. The laughter turned into small chuckles and soon they started to die down, enough for him to continue the conversation from before. He exhaled before going on. "Seriously though," Eijun's previous anger began to dissipate when he heard him speak again. "You don't have to act like you're stepping on glass when it comes to talking about my mom. It happened a long time ago." Eijun stood standing for a few seconds until he slowly sat back down in his chair after listening to the assertion. His hands curled into fists as they rested in his lap. He didn't know what to say next. He was looking down feeling embarrassed that he was read like an open book.

Kazuya cast his eyes toward the suddenly mute brunet. He felt some guilt wash over him realizing it was most likely (definitely) his fault. It isn't like the other man knew about his family's past situation. Just, every time he thought about his father, it left some bitterness within him.

Eijun heard him walking closer to his side.

"Here." Eijun looked up toward Kazuya then his eyes landed on the board held in his hands. The chopped vegetables lay neatly in a line. He led him to the boiling broth on the stove top and instructed him to pour them in. Eijun did as he was told and let them fall in. Kazuya took the rest of the potatoes Eijun peeled and did a quick rinse under the sink. He chopped them into large chunks and tossed them into the pot as well.

"Now add this."

"And this and stir,"

"Just a pinch is fine with this."

Eijun kept following every command directed at him. After throwing in various spices, he soon found himself placing the lid on top of the pot.

"Now we just have to wait for an hour."

Eijun asked skeptically, "Is that it, really?"

"Wasn't too bad, huh?"

Eijun beamed looking at the pot feeling a sense of accomplishment.

It dawned on Eijun. Was this Miyuki's way of fixing the tension in the air that was present not too long ago? Taking a glance at the other who was now wiping down a part of the counter top, he wondered if it was okay for him to think that it was true. Eijun could feel a small smile tugging on his face.

An hour passes, meaning the stew should be ready. They call the kids over for dinner. They pour the stew into four bowls and set down some juice into the cups on the table.

Eijun holds his breath in nervousness. The kids take a sip from each of their bowl. Their eyes grew larger as the taste spreads in their mouth. Takuma's eyes are filled with stars while there are imaginary flowers radiating off of Koushuu as he eats more from his bowl.

Eijun exhales in relief with the breath he was holding. He asks the boys, "So, you guys really like it?"

"Mhmm, it's so good!" Takuma cheers as he dips his spoon in again. Koushuu nods his head happily with a small smile. Eijun realizes he hadn't had a taste himself yet. He picks up his utensil and puts a spoonful in his mouth. Eijun's face looks astonished. With the spoon still in his mouth, he turns his face to Miyuki and fat glistening tears begin rolling down his cheeks. "Miyuki, this is so good. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH."

Kazuya sweat drops. Overcome with gratitude, Eijun grabs Miyuki's hand and holds it between his hands. Kazuya flushed being caught off guard, not expecting such an action. With stars glittering in his eyes, Eijun pleads, "Please teach me more Sensei!"

"Alright, alright, don't worry; there'll be more dishes in the future."

"And you don't have to call me Sensei. It's weird, especially if we're both probably around the same age." Eijun seemed baffled. "Wait, how old are you Miyuki?"

"I'm Twenty-Five." Eijun's face looked stunned and his grip on Miyuki's hand went slack."

"Tw-Twenty-Five!? I thought you were way older. That's only a year older than me."

"I did say I married young, didn't I? Why? You don't think I look old, do you?" Not actually worried about how old he looked, he just wanted to mess with Eijun a bit.

"No, no, far from it." He said as he waved both of his hands in front of his chest. "I just-..I guess you just have a very mature air about you." He tried explaining.

"I'll just take that as a compliment then, thanks." Eijun grinned as he dipped his spoon back into his bowl again.

After dinner, Eijun accompanies Kazuya and Takuma down the stairs to the door that leads straight outside instead of the inside of the café.

"You sure you guys can't stay longer?"

"Yeah, I have work tomorrow."

"Oh right, of course! We'll be seeing each other tomorrow anyways, right?"

"If you guys aren't late like the other day."

"We won't be, I promise." He proclaimed as he used his finger to make an x-shape over his heart. They left the door and got to the sidewalk. Eijun yelled as he waved, "Be safe!"

They returned the wave as they made their way back home.

* * *

Thanks for reading! I didn't get to make art for this chapter ;n; but next one will have some I promise~ I know some people said they wanted this story to be long, and I do too, but I don't know how my skills can live up to that. If you guys ever have suggestions of stuff you want to see in this story, I'll be happy to listen~

And Happy Valentine's Day!


	4. What an angel

"Why are you just staring down at your cup like that?"

Kuramochi and Miyuki were in the break room at the office taking the time to relax. He had noticed the way the other was staring down at the object in his hand. The way he would describe it was a look full of disdain. There was a slight scrunch to the nose, lips sealed tight, and a glare directed toward the insufferable liquid. He then declared, "I've been ruined."

Kuramochi took a bite of his sandwich waiting for his friend to elaborate.

"One sip of their coffee and now this just tastes like garbage."

"Are you talking about that café you've been going to recently? What about that person you were after before? Did that coffee make you forget them or something?"

Miyuki chuckled. "Of course not. It's just easier to go after both when they're at the same place."

Kuramochi then connected the dots while chewing his food. "So…It's the same person." He didn't reply but the smile was all the answer his friend needed.

"Hm. Is it really that good?" He started to sound skeptical. "You sure it's not some love filter you have on where everything tastes amazing because it's them who made it?"

"I've tasted enough coffee in my life and I'm serious when I say this is like mud compared to his.

Kuramochi's ear twitched when he picked up what he thought he heard. "Wait, you're not just going to brush past that." He then began prodding for answers. "Did I hear that right? Did you say '_him'_?"

"Whoops, did that slip out? Nothing gets by you." It was obvious he wasn't trying to hide it at all, especially with that obnoxious grin of his. Kuramochi shook his head while crumpling a wrapper in his hands. "You're unbelievable. No one is safe from you."

Miyuki jeered at him. "Rest assured because you're definitely safe." He made certain to be very clear he had zero interest in his friend.

"Screw you dude. I don't know anyone who wouldn't want a piece of this." He said as he gestured to his whole self to which had amused Miyuki.

Kuramochi let out a huff of breath through his nose as he crossed his arms across his chest. Almost in accusation, he complained, "Wasn't getting confessions all the time in high school enough for you? Now putting guys in the mix?"

"That was different. I never asked to be confessed to by people I wasn't interested in." Kuramochi clicked his tongue. "Only conceited popular guys like you can say that. Now I need something bitter to wash this bitterness out of me. Hand over that coffee."

Kazuya chuckled looking back down at his cup. "I really don't know exactly what he does in making it but whatever it is will keep me coming back."

"If it's so deserving of your praise, show me this place one of these days."

"Nope. No way. I don't need your laughter scaring him away." With pouty lips and a saddened expression, Kuramochi joked in a sickeningly sweet tone, "You don't like my cute laugh?"

"Stop. That's fucking creepy." Kuramochi snickered as he lifted his bottle to take a sip of his drink.

Kazuya sighed. "Fine. I'll take you there eventually. You'd probably keep badgering me anyways until I told you." Kuramochi looked triumphant.

"Just as long as you don't try out your wrestling moves on him too." His green haired friend simply averted his eyes away finding the wall clock to be quite fascinating. That was all Kazuya needed to know what he had suspected. "I knew it. You were going to do it, weren't you?"

Kuramochi leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. "Relax. I don't use them on just anyone. Just on people who I think can handle it."

All Kazuya could do was reach for his forehead as if he could feel an oncoming headache. "And you're calling me unbelievable."

Looking down at his wristwatch, Kuramochi was unpleasantly reminded of how short their lunch break was.

In an exasperated sigh, he grumbled "It's almost time to get back to our shitty jobs."

"And who do you think helped you land this job?"

A domineering voice spoke from the entrance of the room. Kuramochi's shoulders stiffened the second he heard that voice. Leaning on the door frame was a pink haired man dressed in similar attire as the two in the break room. Kuramochi was tempted to take advantage of his fast legs to sprint out of there, but in the back of his mind, he knew he'd regret that decision. His fear made him slowly turn his head towards the door. "Ah, if it isn't Ryousuke-san…" He greeted with sheepish grin. Miyuki felt on edge as well. He wanted to rag on Kuramochi for being a careless dolt with his words but instead felt more empathy for his friend for being caught.

Kominato Ryousuke was a man whose bad side was something no human would want to be on. His stature wasn't much to brag about but if anyone were to point the fact out, that person might as well arrange their funeral for the next day. He was the supervisor of their accounting division and took his position seriously with little to no mercy towards his subordinates. And it was all done with his signature foxlike expression. Those eyes landed on his target.

"So tell me Ku-ra-mo-chi," He enunciated his name threateningly. "What's so unsatisfactory about your job?"

Kuramochi kept trying to figure out an escape route out of this situation but his mind kept coming up with zilch. He decided to try his only option. There was no going back now. "Did I say shitty? That was just a mistake. I meant that it was almost time to get back to our _city_ jobs. Since this job takes place in the city?"

_He's a dead man._

Kazuya wasn't sure whether to face palm at the pure idiocy he'd just heard or pray for his friend's soul. Either way, it was goodbye to Kuramochi.

Ryousuke moved away from the door frame and let the back of his hand rest on his hip.

"Isn't it a good thing though it was me who overheard?" He edged closer to Kuramochi, to the point where his aura alone was making him sweat in nervousness. "You're lucky I've known you long enough. Since high school, isn't that right?"

"Uh…yes." He murmured.

"Hm, It also helps you're actually a useful asset to this team. If not, you would have been looong gone!" His playful laughter always tended to send a chill down the spine. It soon died down and his demeanor changed to a sterner manner. He warned, "But be aware you probably won't be as lucky the next time."

An amused grin slipped on his face seeing the expressions on the two. "I'll leave you guys to have fun finishing the rest of your lunch."

He turned to walk out the door. Before completely leaving, he curved his head to the side. "And Miyuki," His name being called out grabbed his attention. He raised an eyebrow in concern. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble like a certain someone." He sent a quick glance toward Kuramochi. "But I do need to have a word with you later in my office."

* * *

At the preschool, various children were scattered around the room either playing with toys or coloring with crayons. Takuma and Koushuu were playing with some dinosaur figures on a play mat.

"Takumaa!" A girl called out to him from a group of kids across the room. He looked up to the person who had yelled for him. "Want to play with us?" Without even having to wait long for the girl to get a response, he excitedly replies, "I want to play!" He pushed himself up and was already sprinting to the group when he froze mid-step. Takuma glanced back at Koushuu who was still kneeling on the play mat not having moved from their spot. Koushuu was staring down at the floor in front of him with a troubled look. Takuma walked back over and crouched beside him to tug on his hand. "C'mon Koushuu, let's go play!"

Hesitation made him hold his ground and not budge from his position. Takuma confused by his reaction pressed him for an answer.

"Koushuu, what's wrong?" The boy's expression began to look strained. He kept glancing from the ground to Takuma's face and kept going back and forth with this until he finally let his thoughts spill out. "I don't want to play." Takuma even more confused now and worried asked "Why?"

"I- don't know if they'll like me..." Koushuu found it very difficult to meet anyone who was new and unfamiliar. With Takuma, it was easy getting to know him with his bubbly and excited nature. He didn't seem to have any problems with getting along with others as well. He started to tug on his sleeve. "C'mon, it'll be fun." He attempted to reassure him. Takuma not knowing what else would persuade the other boy tried pleading with his eyes. Koushuu looking at his friend somehow made him feel like he was able to believe in his words. He hadn't said anything else to the bespectacled boy, but he did stand up from his position and look back at Takuma and nodded as his way to say 'ok'. The boy sent back a beaming grin and drags him to the group in lightning speed.

When they arrived, the group of children directed their attention to the two boys. Takuma spoke to the girl, "Nariko-chan, Koushuu has something to say." He turned to his friend to let him speak. Koushuu suddenly felt nervous with multiple eyes on him waiting for what he'd have to say. His heart was pounding in his chest and diverted his glance to his shoes. He started to scrunch the front of his shirt. When he tried to speak, the words were inaudible. The children all leaned in simultaneously. He tried again until he realized his throat felt dry. No words could come through at all. Any confidence he thought he had rapidly began to diminish in his body. He tried to swallow it down but soon his fingers began to shake slightly.

Spotting this and without actually thinking, Takuma reached out for his shaking hand. Koushuu was caught by surprise but look toward the owner of the other hand. He could feel the reassurance radiating from his friend. He then tried clearing his throat. "..I was wondering if I...could play too.."

In an excited voice, the girl replied, "We'd be happy if you joined!" A blush tinged her cheeks as she twiddled her fingers. "Well, I wanted you to play but we thought you didn't." Another child exclaimed "All right, let's play Doctor!"

Takuma's arm shot up into the air as he excitedly jumped up and down. "I'll be the dog! Pick me!" The girl, Nariko, retorted "Takuma, we're not playing House, we're playing Doctor. Remember, with the nurses and the hospitals."

"Oh, right. Okay, me and Koushuu will be the patients!"

While tidying the toys around the room, Haruichi looked over to see Koushuu and find out how he was fitting in. The child seemed to be enjoying himself from where he could tell. This had Haruichi _, Eijun should be happy to hear about this. _Haruichi suddenly noticed the absence of the other adult, one who was supposed to be getting some paints from the cabinet. A quick search had lead him to a pile of pillows with legs sticking halfway out from the bottom of it. Slight snoring could be heard from the pile.

"Furuya…"

* * *

Back at Miyuki's work place, he started to head down the hall toward his supervisor's office room. On the way there, he tried to figure out the reason he would be called up for. It didn't seem like anything too serious, but enough to meet Ryousuke about it? He just hoped it wasn't anything that will take long. Standing right in front of the door, he knocked a few times before turning the knob and opening it. He peeked through the door and made eye contact with the pink haired supervisor. "Miyuki, just who I needed to see." He gestured for him to take the seat in front of the desk.

He walked over to the chair and pulled it out for himself. As he sat down, he decided to cut straight to business. "So, what is it you needed to talk to me for? I assume it's not my work ethic since I know it's in top shape." Miyuki attempted some small talk to lighten the mood. He gave him his signature grin.

"You're correct, that isn't the case." He continued. "You have a son, isn't that right?" Miyuki nodded. He was uncertain why he would bring that up. "How's the preschool treating him?"

He was a bit confused with the topic veering off around his son and his wellbeing. He saw Ryousuke was waiting for him to reply. "It's been fine. I mean, I'm guessing his energetic tendencies can be a bit much for anyone, but other than that, Haruichi handles him fairly well. You were the one who recommended the place to me because he's employed there."

"That's good to hear. I've always told Haruichi to never slack on anything he does." Ryousuke murmured under his breath. "That Furuya on the other hand…" The scary face Ryousuke was making had Miyuki sweat drop.

_Furuya. Now where have I heard that name before…oh right. The other teacher employed with Haruichi. _Now Miyuki could understand a bit with why he made that particular expression.

Seeing as this was a good chance to slip out, Miyuki excused himself. "Well, I don't want to be rude, but I'll be heading back soon." He proceeded to lift himself off of the chair. "Might as well finish the rest of my shift."

"That's the thing."

Miyuki was halfway out of his chair when the pink haired man said that. He looked at him now wanting a further explanation. Ryousuke tipped his head toward the chair as a silent way to say, _'sit back down'_.

He sat himself back down almost cautiously and waited for Ryousuke to continue. "There was a bit of an error in the systems and the number of reports for you to look over were actually higher than what you were first assigned."

He raised an eyebrow at him. Miyuki knew where this was most likely heading, but he still needed some clarification. "So what does that mean for me?"

Ryousuke sighed. "We're going to need you to do some over time for the missing reports."

Miyuki stared back at him in disbelief. He questioned, "Can't somebody else take in the reports or at least push it for the next day?" Miyuki can tell his anger was starting to bubble, but he knew he needed to calm down.

In a serious calm tone, Ryousuke countered. "Miyuki, you know how important it is for them to be turned in before the end of the amount of time we are given. If I could spread those reports out for equal share or delay the due date, I wouldn't mind allowing that for you." Ryousuke folded his hands on top of the desk. "But unfortunately, it isn't in my power to do that." Miyuki leaned back in his chair and let out a sigh full of discontent. It was unprofessional of him to do it on his part, but how else would he react with something like that being thrown in his face. There didn't seem to be any way around though. He ran a hand through his hair as he asked, "How much overtime are we talking about?"

"I'll be straight up with you and guess at least five hours." Miyuki gawked when he heard that. "With your skills though, four and a half."

He quickly stood up out of his chair to protest. "Ryousuke-san, I just can't. I have to pick up my son right after my shift ends. If it was one, maybe two hours at the most, I would ask Haruichi very nicely to take care of him till I arrived." He looked down at Ryousuke to see any change in expression, but had found none. "With that amount of over time, I won't even be able to leave this building till nine."

"Isn't there someone else you can ask?"

_'__Someone else to ask? Who am I going to ask on such short notice?'_ There weren't many other people he could trust for this matter. The only other person he could come up with was his ex-wife who was currently out of the country.

Miyuki was about to make another outburst when the realization hit him. _Could he do that? Would it be too big of a favor to ask? But what other choice did he have?_

Ryousuke could see there was a change in expression. He was patient with Miyuki to continue as he seemed to be stuck in thought.

"So, did you find something?"

"I-…might have. Would it possible to make a quick call?"

"It's fine. You can do it right outside in the hall if that appeases you." Miyuki excused himself as he walked out the door. He took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts. In bright, glowing lettering was the name he'd come to memorize. He bit his bottom lip as his thumb hovered over the 'call' button, hesitating to do just that. The image of his son came up. He remembered then exactly what he was doing this for.

At the café, Eijun was organizing the counter when his phone went off. It was the ringtone he assigned for friends so he happily picked it up without checking who exactly was calling.

In a chipper voice, he answered. "Hey, what's up?" There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line until the person finally answered back.

[…Hey, Sawamura.]

Eijun moved the phone away from his ear and looked down at the caller ID to make sure he wasn't imagining anything. Surprised seeing as how he wasn't, he pressed the phone back to his ear and replied confused, "Miyuki?" It shouldn't be so strange for someone you've been friendly with lately to call out of the blue, but this was Miyuki. He seems like the kind of person who would be too busy or not interested to actually engage in small talk.

Almost sheepishly, he confirmed. [Yeah, that's me.]

"Why are you calling at this time? Ah! Not that I'm trying to be rude. I'm just surprised is all. Is something the matter?"

[I guess you could say that.]

"Oh? What's wrong?"

He took a small breath before going on. [There was a bit of a mishap at work, so now I have to do some overtime, the thing is, I probably won't even get out till 8:30pm at the earliest. I have a huge favor to ask.]

"If I can help out, yeah, sure." Eijun's full attention was now intently listening to what he would say next.

[I was wondering if you'd be able to take Takuma home along with you guys after their preschool until I can pick him up. I'm hoping it's not too much to ask for but I couldn't think of anyone else to call on such short notice.]

"Yeah, of course. Yeah, we can do that! It's not too much trouble at all."

Eijun heard a sigh of relief come from the other side of the line.

[You're a life saver. I'll try to hurry over as soon as I can.]

"It sounds like you might collapse on the road if you're coming back that late. If you want, we can let Takuma sleep over too. He can just borrow some of Koushuu's clothes and I have extra unopened packages of tooth brushes stored away." Feeling like he was getting ahead of himself, Eijun added the last bit. "Of course, only if you're okay with that."

Miyuki was wondering if he was talking to an angel right now. [Thank you, really, this helps a lot.]

"Don't worry about it, I mean, what are friends for?"

As the conversation came to a close, Miyuki pressed the 'End Call' button and let his arm drop by his side. Before completely putting the phone away, he glanced down at the screen. "Friends. Right."

* * *

At the preschool, Haruichi was overseeing each and every child's departure as their parent/guardian would arrive to pick them up. There were still a few children left, including Koushuu and Takuma. The next person to walk through the door was none other than Eijun himself looking a bit like he had just jogged.

He was trying to catch his breath a bit before talking. "Hey Harucchi. I'm here for the both of them. Did you get his message?"

Haruichi nodded his head. "I know, he informed me earlier." Miyuki called him up right after his call with Eijun explaining the circumstances.

Eijun let his breathing settle down before he looked at the two boys. He walked over to kneel in front of them to be eye level with both of the children. "Hey guys. I hope you had a fun day today." Takuma nodded his head excitedly. "Yeah! I want to tell my dad everything we did today. When do you think he'll get here?"

He bit his bottom lip. "About that Takuma, your dad called me saying he was going to be really late in picking you up." Eijun could see Takuma's expression was slowly starting to turn into dejection. Eijun placed his oversized hand on the top of the boy's head. "Hey, don't worry though, he gave me permission to take you home with us." Seeing as this had grabbed Takuma's attention, he continued. "And, he said you can stay over for tonight. Do you know what that means?" Takuma wasn't fully sure, so he shook his head in reply. "That means it'll be a sleep over, so you can spend more time with Koushuu." His expression made a complete turnaround. Once he had heard this, Takuma's mouth formed a grin that had reached from ear to ear. He started to jump around elatedly around Eijun.

"You boys ready to go?" Koushuu nodded his head and had the straps of his bag already around his shoulders. Takuma was more than ready. He had his backpack on and even grabbed Koushuu's wrist like he wanted to make sure he wasn't forgetting him or anything.

Eijun smiled down at the two as he proceeded to start heading out. "All right, let's get going."

* * *

Miyuki stepped out of the office building having finally finished the work load that was thrown on him. He pressed the contact on his phone and put it up to his ear as he waited for it to dial the number. Looking upwards to the sky, there wasn't even a hint of the sun left to peek through the clouds. The street lights had probably been on for a while now. The ringing suddenly cut when the person he'd been calling answered. [Miyuki, is that you?]

"Yeah, it is. I just got out. Are you sure you're fine having to take care of them both? I could head over right now if you want."

[No! Don't worry, I have everything under control here. They'll be heading to sleep soon anyways. You especially, should really head to bed. You sound pretty exhausted.] There was concern laced in that message. Did he actually sound that tired? Well, it shouldn't be a surprise really. Hours of overtime can do that to a person.

[You can come over tomorrow when you feel more refreshed. I'll even have a coffee ready for you.]

Miyuki was honestly wondering if angels were real.

When he arrived back home, he sluggishly walked up the flight of stairs. His bag and shoes already left behind, scattered near the door. He sat on the edge of his bed, slipping off his glasses and laying them right on the table. His eyelids felt heavy. His focus seemed to fluctuate. The last thing he remembered was pitch darkness.

Early the next morning, Eijun was folding laundry after he had taken them right out of the dryer. In one of the piles was Takuma's clothes he had worn yesterday. He placed the piles into the basket and carried it in his arms. He walked through the small hallway to put the clothes away. He passed by Koushuu's room, but back peddled when he took in the scene before him. On the bed were both the boys sleeping soundly. Koushuu was curled up with the blanket while Takuma was sprawled all over the rest of the bed with only one foot underneath the blanket. Eijun chuckled as he kept on walking forward. The sound of his phone going off had him set down the basket and walk back into his room to pick it up.

"Hello?"

Eijun could hear the sound of one rummaging through their closet. [I'm getting ready real fast, so I'll be on my way soon.]

"Woah, take your time. There's no need to rush. It's your day off, isn't it?"

The movement on the other end seemed to slow down. [That's true.]

"Right. And besides, they're still sleeping." Kazuya was currently slipping his shoes on.

[All right. I'll be over soon anyways.]

The phone call ended, but he did start heading out to the café. With no detours, he made it there in an exceptionally short amount of time. He wanted to arrive before the café itself opened so Eijun wouldn't have more trouble on his hands than needed. Not sure if the front door was still locked, he knocked as the best option. He heard a click and the door was pushed opened from the inside. Eijun stood there smiling in front of him with a coffee in one hand. "I told you I'd have a coffee for you." Kazuya did remember he had said something like that over the phone, but did not think he was actually serious or care enough to remember. He was pleasantly surprised by the nice outcome. He took the cup from his hand and gave him his thanks. They sat down in one of the tables to enjoy their morning coffee.

"One of the nice things about making good coffee is that I get to drink it."

"Oh, so now you're bragging about your own coffee?" He teased him as he went to take another sip from his cup.

"Hey, this is good coffee and you know it. I wouldn't even attempt to open a business if not for it. The sweets help a lot too though."

"Where did you learn to bake?" He thought about it for a moment. "My grandma taught me. It was mostly Japanese sweets I learned from her. Well, I learned as much as I could right up until she passed away."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it. She always said she lived a nice long life. My grandpa is still alive and kicking though." He said that with a grin. He then added. "Aaand slapping me." He said it like it was just another thing in the Sawamura household. Amused at that, Kazuya wondered what kind of family Eijun came from where that was a daily thing.

"I think it was my last year in Junior high I decided to try learning to make desserts from other countries. Oh! And this dessert book I found at a thrift store had all kinds of ways to decorate a cookie. I think I figured out the exact types of things I wanted to create when a classmate let me borrow their shoujo manga-" Eijun kept going on and on reflecting his earlier school days. He just seemed so enthusiastic telling him about it all, Kazuya didn't mind if he kept on talking all day. He would happily keep listening. "I'm glad baseball was also one of my main passions or else I'd probably have ended up like a balloon!" Eijun laughed heartily picturing himself in such a way.

There was a jingle by the door, but Kazuya paid no notice to it. Remembering he left the door unlocked, Eijun proceeded to politely let the guest know the café wasn't open just yet. "Hey, sorry but we're still clo-" His words abruptly stopped. Kazuya's eyebrows scrunched together at the sudden absence of noise from the other. In concern and confusion, he put down his cup to look up at Eijun. The other's attention was directed to the entrance of the cafe. His stare didn't seem to have budged. He followed his gaze landing on a blonde figure standing by the door. As the person started to remove their brown jacket, Miyuki kept looking back and forth from Eijun to the random stranger. An odd sense of dread started to settle in the pit of Kazuya's stomach. Eijun, the cause of the silence was also the one to break it.

Almost carefully, he uttered the question. "Mei?"

Striking blue eyes and an award winning smile gleamed directly at Eijun.

"The one and only."

* * *

kill me. I wish my writing could give this story justice. The best way for me is to work on it bit by minuscule bit. There's new art on the ao3 site for this chapter~~ I did promise.

YEAHHHH so Mei in the next chapter. ehehe this should be fun (•̀ω•́ ｡) If there are any mistakes or typos, sorry about that. I am my own editor. ha haa

Also, I'm still taking any suggestions or other scenes you wanna see in future updates. pls ( ; ; )


	5. One on One

after a century, i've updated finally

* * *

Eijun stood there slack-jawed standing from the table.

"You gonna stand there all day or what?"

As soon as Eijun overcame his surprise, a wave of pure excitement overtook him from seeing his friend once again. He grinned from ear to ear, throwing his hands up and shouting, "Mei!"

Mei's arms were wide open waiting for the other to fill them up. Eijun ran to him at full speed. Even though he was taller, he still wrapped his tan arms around the blonde's neck. They both beamed their brightest smile to each other.

Something snapped in Miyuki. Seeing the two embrace each other so affectionately made some feeling bubble up inside him. _Who the hell is this guy? And where have I heard that name before? Mei..._

Miyuki kept trying to wrack his brain to figure out why it sounded so familiar.

"When did you come back from Nishinomiya? And why didn't you call to tell me you were coming!"

"I wanted it to be a surprise. I have business in town today but I wanted to drop by to see you guys first. By the way, where is the little guy? I brought him some gifts."

"He's just sleeping upstairs. But if you're dropping by later, you can give it to him then. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you too." He said with a smile.

Kazuya was left to sit in the chair as they kept yapping away. It was like he didn't exist. He can't remember the last time he'd felt like such a third-wheel.

Mei feeling a glare directed toward him caught his attention. In feigned interest, he asked "And who might this be."

"Oh, right! " Eijun led Mei over to the table to introduce the two. "This is my friend Miyuki. And Miyuki, this is my childhood friend Mei. We've been friends since Grade School."

"He's living in the Hyōgo Prefecture pitching for the Hanshin Tigers. " Eijun mentioned quite proudly. "Isn't that cool?"

"Eijun, I have so many fangirls, but I think you're my biggest one." he teased.

"Sh-shut up."

Kazuya stared back unblinking. His eyes narrowed once he finally recognized that annoying blonde's mug. Images from a TV screen flashed across his mind of a uniformed player being interviewed for his latest game.

_"Narumiya, your plays out there was really something. Only a handful can execute it as well as you can. Tell us, how did you manage to hold down the opposing team perfectly with your pitches?"_

_Mei's eyes sparkled and a smile too eager for comfort replied, "Well, as one of the pillars to hold up the team, it's the pitcher's job to meet everyone's expectations once you take the mound. The mindset should always be set to—"_

Kazuya remembered shutting the television off quickly before he had to sit through anymore of the interview. Something about that person got on his nerves. But now here was this person right in the flesh.

"Oh, you're _the _Narumiya Mei." In sarcastic excitement, he praised, "Well, it's such an _honor_ to meet you." He stuck his hand out to Mei. Mei looked down at the hand being offered to him. He smirked as he shook the hand back in return not missing the chance to squint up at the other. Eijun just looked so happy oblivious to the malice forming between the two. Miyuki made an effort to not show the disdain he was feeling appear on his face. But it was difficult when the other was directing the same amount of contempt toward him.

"Hey Ei-chan,"

_Ei-chan? The hell? Who does he think he is? _Eijun happily waited to hear what Mei wanted.

"Do you think you could get me a drink? I'm kind of thirsty after coming back from the long ride here." Eagerly he complied. "Sure, I'll make you your favorite one."

Most people wouldn't think twice about the simple request, but Kazuya knew. He was just waiting for what the other wanted to say. As soon as Eijun was in the other room, Mei took the seat opposite of Miyuki and began, "Look, I know you don't like me very much," Kazuya wanted to bark in laughter at that understatement. "I mean, the way you glared at me when Eijun introduced us. That was pretty funny!" Mei's smile slowly started to drop and his tone was suddenly replaced with a more threatening one. "But that goes the same for me." His blue eyes turned sharp, no playfulness in sight. He put an elbow on the table and leaned in. "Who are you?" Miyuki crossed his arms as he was returning the glare back. He knew what the other was asking, but he answered with his foolhardy words anyways. "Weren't you listening? I'm Miyuki."

"Don't be a smartass. You know what I mean. Who are you to Eijun?"

Kazuya rolled his eyes behind his frames. He shrugged. "He's an acquaintance. My kid is friends with his." Mei pursed his lips as he kept scanning him suspiciously and came to a conclusion. "I don't believe that's all." Kazuya didn't say anything back. He didn't see a need to defend himself. He just kept a straight-laced appearance. Mei was somehow able to read past that neutral expression and came to a well thought out conclusion.

"You like him, don't you?" He said in an almost accusatory tone.

Not wanting to let the other's glare affect him, he kept quiet. The longer the silence, the heavier the tension became. He sighed as he eventually admitted.

"…Yeah, so what?"

Mei slammed his fist on the table quietly as to not attract Eijun's attention. "I knew it. I knew my instincts weren't wrong. My cute little Ei-chan is in danger."

He raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous statement. "How am I a danger? And why exactly is it your concern?" Mei explained it simply to him. "Eijun can be a bit naïve sometimes. I've known him for years so it's my job to protect him."

"I think you're highly underestimating him."

Mei taunted him. "What makes you think you even have a chance when there's already someone like me there for him?" Kazuya couldn't help but inwardly scoff. He was putting in all his effort into not rolling his eyes at the sheer conceit. If he was being honest with himself though, he didn't feel 100% confident in his chances with Eijun either, but he also didn't want to let Mei's gibe threaten him. Miyuki spoke in an opposing manner. "What about you? If you've known him for so long, why hasn't anything happened?" It was a shot in the dark, but he smirked when he realized he did hit something. He hit one of Mei's nerves with that question. A frustrated and embarrassed look seeped onto the blonde's face.

He felt some satisfaction being the one to cause the other that look. He wanted to get one thing straight with the blonde. "You're right though, I do like him. But in no way am I here to harm him. In fact, I want to protect him too." Both stared back at one another, neither of them refusing to look away at the risk of losing whatever battle they somehow ended up in.

"It's done!"

Eijun returned with Mei's drink a croissant on a separate plate. Mei's face and aura immediately changed back to his friendly playful one. "Here you go Mei." Eijun set down the plate on the table while Mei graciously took the cup from his other hand. "Thanks Ei-chan!" He took a sip to savor the drink, but one sip was enough to make him drink the rest in record time. "This is so good. I'm happy I get to taste this again after so long. Nothing in Nishinomiya even comes close to this Ei-chan."

"Thanks Mei. I'm just glad to see you enjoy it."

"I'm serious, I've been to about every high-end café over there and yours is always my first pick."

Laughter was reverberating from the two, but it sounded distant. There was that feeling again; the feeling of being pushed into the background. It was a bitter taste, more so than the coffee he was drinking. Kazuya detested it with every second it lasted. He was sure he wouldn't mind it as much if it was anyone else other than Narumiya being the cause of it.

Mei ate the rest of his bread and placed the cup on top of the plate. He stood up from out of his chair. "Thanks for the food, but I need to get going now." Eijun looked disappointed and a bit like a sad puppy. "Hey, don't give me that face! I'll try to finish up business as soon as I can." Mei received a smile in return. "I know, just drop by again later, alright?"

Mei nodded at Eijun and then turned to Kazuya. "Hey, it was nice meeting you." He reached a hand out for Kazuya's to shake it. When their hands came into contact, he leaned in so only Miyuki could hear. "I'll be keeping an eye on you so you don't try anything funny with Ei-chan." Kazuya frowned as he just stared back, watching as the blonde made his way to the door. Mei waved one last time to Eijun and Eijun waved back until the door completely closed.

"Ahh, it's going to feel like a long day waiting for Mei to come by again. He's pretty great, isn't he?" He turned the question on to Miyuki, which the other replied with a small. "Hm." It wasn't an actual answer, just a noise to confirm he heard his question and replied to it. Eijun noticed the lack of enthusiasm. He had an idea why, so he asked, "Hey, Miyuki," He looked over to Eijun. "Mei didn't say anything mean to you…did he?"

_Oops, was he being that obvious? He wouldn't ask something like that in the first place, right?_

"Why do you ask?"

Eijun started to scratch the back of his head sheepishly. "Mei can be kind of overprotective sometimes. He's always been a year older than me so he tends to baby me a lot because of that fact." Eijun took on a strong stance and flexed one arm. "But I'm strong! I can take care of myself." Kazuya laughed at the outrageous pose. He chuckled. "Don't worry, he didn't say anything that's worth fighting over. In fact, he probably said some stuff I would say." He smirked at Eijun which piqued the other's interest.

He slid next to Miyuki and nudged him on the arm with his elbow. "What's with that face? What did you guys talk about? Now I'm curious."

He wasn't going to let Eijun extract any answers from his little talk with Mei. At least not yet.

"If you're so curious, why not ask him yourself."

"Ehhh? But if you won't say anything, he's not going to say anything either!" Eijun crossed his arms and turned his back to Miyuki.

"I guess I won't be making any more coffee for you."

"Aww, come on, don't be like that." _I don't think I can enjoy any other coffee if it's not yours. _"If you do that, I'll have to stop teaching you more cooking lessons."

Eijun whipped back around swiftly looking panicked. "Wha- No! Please don't. I need these lessons." He begged Miyuki with his hands clasped together. "I'll do anything!"

He snickered, a bit worried the other was going to start begging on his knees soon. "Don't worry, I was just kidding. I wouldn't stop something I enjoy doing too." Eijun sighed a breath of relief. "Thank goodness. I don't know anyone else who would teach me with only wanting coffee and pastries in return."

Kazuya walked over to Eijun and slapped an arm around his shoulder. "Trust me, your bakery is totally worth it."

"Thanks, that's reassuring. I'd probably be out of business if it wasn't." Eijun glanced up at the clock on the wall and was reminded where exactly they were again. "Speaking of business, I should go prep up now." He took Miyuki's arm off his shoulder and jogged over to the table to put his apron back on. He zipped around to the kitchen, and came back to start filling the displays. He started to organize objects behind the register.

Kazuya put his elbows over the counter and crossed his arms watching Eijun get everything settled.

"Need any help?"

He heard a loud bang hitting the underside of the counter. Eijun rose up rubbing the top of his head while Miyuki leaned over to see if he was okay. Eijun held open his palm to signal he was fine. As soon as the pain subsided, he asked, "You shouldn't be working on your day off. You should go relax instead."

"It's fine with me. Besides, I got a good night's sleep because you were able to pick up Takuma. Once again, I'm really grateful for that." Eijun just sent him a small nod and a smile before walking into the kitchen and coming back out with more pastries. He watched quietly in awe at how quickly Eijun turned the empty displays into beautiful arrangements of his own creations. He was always impressed by the fact Eijun was the one who created them. On top of that, he was able to run his own business. He was sure there was probably still more to learn about this golden eyed brunet. Kazuya tapped his fingers on the counter, quietly contemplating if he should ask Eijun an absurd question. Actually, he knew he wanted to ask him, but the real question was if he had the nerve to do it. Taking a small breath to prepare himself, he decided to go for it. It was either now or never. "Hey, I was wondering if you and me-" He looked over to see curious golden eyes watching him, anticipating whatever words were about to come out of his mouth. He changed his mind at the last second.

"-and the kids, wanted to go to the park tomorrow?"

Miyuki received a blank look from him. Eijun blinked a few times before his mouth formed an eager smile. "That sounds really fun! We can prepare a lunch for everyone and afterwards we can play some baseball together- of course only if you want to, but I just thought of something else we could do too." Kazuya chuckled at how quickly the other started building more ideas on top of his simple one right after hearing it. Regardless of not saying exactly what he wanted, Kazuya was glad he would still be spending time with the excited brunet anyways.

"Oh, but weren't you guys going to be staying a little longer today? We can talk about this more later with the boys. I think they'd like to throw in some of their own ideas."

"Actually, sometime after this, I was thinking about taking Takuma back home and letting you go on with your business, you know, without any distractions bothering you."

"You guys wouldn't be bothering us. Are you sure?"

"You'll be going to catch up with your friend today anyways. Just save tomorrow for us then. We can all hang out after you close up. You're closing up earlier tomorrow, aren't you?" Eijun thought about it for a moment, but then smiled at the newly formed plan.

"I'm sure they'll be excited to hear the news later. Speaking of the boys, I think they should be waking up soon." A small gasped escaped Eijun. "I forgot about making them breakfast." He turned to Miyuki meekly. "If it's not a lot of trouble, do you think you can make them some breakfast?"

"Sure, I can whip up something quick for them. I mean, is there anyone else around who can do the job?" he smirked at him.

"Seriously? Thank you! You can use the kitchen upstairs."

His hand was on the handle about to walk into their home when he turned his head to see Eijun enthusiastically holding two thumbs up and yelling out, "Miyuki Kazuya, you're the best!" He sweat dropped at the use of his full name.

* * *

Just like Miyuki said, they only stayed for a while longer after breakfast before they went back home. Of course not without having to tear Takuma off his seat because he didn't want to leave yet. Kazuya used the news about tomorrow's plans to persuade him into letting go. It worked successfully but he was still mentally shaking his head at how stubborn his son could be.

Seeing as it was almost time to close up anyways, Eijun speedily wiped down the tables, cleaned up everything else before locking up and turning off the lights. He walked through the door to their house and closed it behind him. He then proceeded to slip off his shoes at the bottom of the stairs before climbing up them. Eijun reached the top to find Koushuu watching some random cartoon on the television.

He walked down the hall past the kitchen and noticed how clean it was left. Not a crumb in sight. He'd have to thank Miyuki for that later. On his way to his room, he suddenly felt an uncomfortable stickiness when he pulled at his shirt. He realized he probably needed a bath after working all day. Not only that, Mei would be coming over soon. He headed into the bathroom to turn the water on. He let it fill up while he went into his room to pick some clothes to change into after washing up. Looking through his drawers, he came across a framed picture buried inside it. He must have place it in there while he was cleaning his room not too long ago. He picked it up and smiled nostalgically at the image. It was a picture of him and Mei back in middle school. It was their last year together in the same school before Mei had to move. It was heart-breaking at first, but even before that, they made the decision that they would attend different schools to battle each other one day on the field with their respective teams. Of course that never stopped them from staying in contact with each other constantly or hanging out from time to time. Brushing a thumb across the glass, he couldn't help but to think how glad he was to have Mei in his life.

_It had only been two weeks since Koushuu was in Eijun's care. He wanted Koushuu to feel comfortable with his new living arrangements before he had told anyone. When Eijun could see he was looking more relaxed after some time, he called up his parents and grandfather to let them about a new family member. Mei was also among the first to know. As soon as he got the call, he immediately took a few days off from his baseball team's practice to see the child his best friend had decided to take in. He arrived to find a small, timid kid hiding behind Eijun's legs. At first, both blondes were not sure how to approach the other, but with some encouragements from Eijun to the two of them, Mei knelt down in front of the child and Koushuu peeked past Eijun's legs. In front of Koushuu, he found a fluffy stuffed bear being offered to him. Eijun knelt down next to him to pat him on the back telling him it was okay to take it. He hesitantly took the bear into his small hands and looked up at Mei and then back down on the stuffed animal. The smallest smile appeared on his lips, it would be easy to miss if you were not paying attention. But seeing this smile, or any smile from Koushuu warmed both Eijun and Mei._

He shook himself out of his memory and picked up his pile of clean clothes to head to the bathroom. After slipping out of his clothes, he did a quick wash up before walking to the tub and dipping his foot into the nice warmth of the water. Slowly submerging the rest of his body into the tub, he exhaled a breath of relief as he felt his whole body relaxing. Any tension in his muscles began to melt away. He was giddy about tonight with Mei visiting very soon and the plans for tomorrow with Miyuki. He found it kind of funny how the other seemed unsure if he was going to say yes or not. Besides an excuse like work or being too exhausted to go out, who would say no to going to the park with their kids? Eijun then wondered if it was something else Miyuki was going to ask. There was an odd hope settling inside him. Was he hoping some other question was going to come out of the bespectacled man's mouth? Now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what exactly he was hoping for. He brought his knees close to his body and wrapped his arms around them. Some pink dusted across his cheeks and he blamed it on the water's temperature being too hot.

Changing into his clean clothes, he draped a small towel around his shoulders to catch the extra water dripping from his hair. Not long after walking out of the bathroom, he heard the doorbell ring repeatedly. _Yup, that's Mei._

"Koushuu, can you go down and open that?" Koushuu nodded in reply and jumped off the couch. He ran down the steps and unlocked the door to see who the guest was. He pushed it open and in a confused tone asked, "Uncle Mei?"

The older blonde grinned widely and scooped up Koushuu in his arms. "Hey! Shorty remembered to call me Uncle this time."

Koushuu's arms crossed over each other and with his natural blank expression stated, "I'll grow taller than you one day."

"Sure you will, but for now, you're still a shorty." With Koushuu still in his arms he walked up the steps to greet Eijun for the second time that day.

He put the blonde child back down where Koushuu just ran back to watching whatever was on the television again. They both asked each other how the rest of their day went and then Eijun asked about his trip coming back. Mei gave his usual spiel full of complaints and Eijun nodded at every single one.

"Actually, Eijun, I have a big favor to ask." He looked at the brunet with uncertainty in his eyes. "Can I spend the night here?"

He smiled back. "Of course, you're always welcomed here, but I thought you'd be going to visit your parents after coming back."

"Yeah, like I can do that when they're still on their getaway trip for another week. I forgot where I placed the house key so I booked a hotel room for the rest of the week. When I got there, the front desk told me they accidentally set the starting date of my stay for tomorrow morning. Can you believe that Eijun!? How dare they treat me like this?"

Mei sighed. "It's too much trouble to go to a different hotel for tonight, so I hope you don't mind me staying here."

"We don't mind at all. You can even take my bed while I sleep on the couch."

"Aw, what? I thought we were going to sleep in the same bed. Like how we used to all the time." He whined uncharacteristically for someone his age.

"Mei, two grown men can't fit in my bed unless one of us ends up kicking the other off it in the middle of the night. Just be a good guest and I'll sleep on the couch for tonight."

"Fine. I'll be taking a shower then." Mei said as he headed to the bathroom.

"I'll make some tea while you're in there." He shouted towards the blonde as the other closed the bathroom door behind him.

While in the kitchen, he filled a tea pot with water and set it down onto the stove top. He turned on the stove and was about to retrieve the green tea packets from a cabinet until he remembered new shower handles were recently installed, but they were accidentally put in reverse. So the hot and cold temperatures were switched. He didn't hear the water running yet so he decided to go tell him before he had a complaining Mei.

He knocked a couple of times before turning the door handle to push it open. "Sorry if you're changing Mei, but I forgot to tell you about…the…" His words died in his mouth.

Mei's head whipped around rapidly with a horrified expression spread over his face. Eijun was standing there, door on the handle, looking like whatever he was seeing still hadn't settled in. Mei could feel Eijun's eyes staring at his wrapped shoulder. In a split second, he quickly covered up as soon as he could, but he knew it was already too late. He wasn't looking at the other because he knew what question was bound to come out of the brunet's mouth next.

He took his hand off the handle and slowly pointed toward his shoulder. "Mei-…you're…you're injured?" There still wasn't a reply coming out of the blonde. He huffed out. "Why didn't you tell me?" He still hadn't even looked up at Eijun yet. "Is the only reason you coming back here is for hospital check-ups?"

He quickly turned to Eijun. "Of course that's not the only reason!" He finally said something back. "I wanted to visit you guys too. But…" Eijun's brows scrunched in concern. "It is the main reason...I guess."

Eijun's mind was trying to put small details together that he didn't even think twice about. _That's probably what the 'business' he had to do in town earlier._

"You- you don't need surgery, do you?" He asked Mei, hesitant to what the answer might be.

"Eijun, you're blowing this out of proportion. If it was so bad, I wouldn't have attempted to pick up Koushuu. But look, I'm not in agonizing pain. I even put most of his weight on my other arm. I was just told I had to take some time off is all, to rest my shoulder."

"How long is 'some time off'?"

Almost reluctant to answer him, he replied sheepishly. "Three months?"

Eijun gawked at Mei. _Wasn't three months a lot for an athlete? _

"Three months?!" Mei flinched a little at that. "I'll ask again, why didn't you say anything or call or something?"

"Well, they kind of said it in the news."

"Mei, you know I can't keep up with sports news."

"I don't know, I guess I didn't want you to worry."

"And you think hearing about it from the news would make me feel better?

"Hehe...Probably not. It might have been worse."

Eijun thought about the circumstance for a moment, and after calming down a little, he could see it wasn't a serious case. He was glad to find out it wasn't severe enough to where Mei needed an operation or had to take a longer amount of time off. They probably caught Mei in time before he further injured his shoulder. He knew more than anyone how much Mei would rather not give up the mound. He could understand his feelings as well, of course having played the same position. An exasperated sigh escaped him. "You better be back on that mound as soon as those months are up. But don't be hasty about your recovery."

He smirked. "You? Telling me not to be hasty? That's a riot coming from you. Don't worry, I'll have this shoulder healed as swiftly and carefully as possible. My entire being is telling me to go pitch already."

The whistle from the teapot went off signaling an end to their conversation.

"Come on, let's go drink some tea."

* * *

this chapter was pretty mei-centric sorry i just love him. i'd like to reiterate how corny this fic is, even i roll my eyes sometimes lmao

btw, talk to me on twitter! my username: yaoiscum

i'm always up for talking about daiya


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